CDC stops backing COVID jabs for pregnant women, children

In another signal of downgraded support for COVID-19 vaccination programmes under the Trump administration, the CDC has stopped recommending immunisation for pregnant women and children.

The manner of the decision – which was made without input from advisory bodies and first announced on social media by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr – has raised further concerns about the abandonment of usual operational procedures at federal agencies and the risk that the benefit of vaccines will be further undermined in the eyes of the public.

Usually, decisions to change vaccination advice are made only after consultation with the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices (ACIP). The agency had previously recommended COVID booster shots for children aged six months and over.

Last week, the FDA introduced a stricter set of policies around COVID-19 vaccines, including a clinical trial requirement for new shots intended for widespread use, and also added stronger warnings for heart toxicity on labels.

In a video in which he was flanked by FDA Commissioner Marty Makary and NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya, Kennedy claimed that the Biden administration had "urged healthy children to get yet another COVID shot despite the lack of any clinical data to support the repeat booster strategy in children."

Kennedy did not provide any evidence for the change in the recommendation, and the decision has been questioned by experts, including Steven Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

"The science has not changed. It is very clear that COVID-19 infection during pregnancy can be catastrophic and lead to major disability, and it can cause devastating consequences for families," he said.

"The COVID-19 vaccine is safe during pregnancy, and vaccination can protect our patients and their infants after birth. In fact, growing evidence shows just how much vaccination during pregnancy protects the infant after birth, with the vast majority of hospitalised infants less than six months of age – those who are not yet eligible for vaccination – born to unvaccinated mothers."

The decision to bypass the ACIP means that health insurers, who would usually base their access policies on the panel's advice, will now have to decide whether to change their coverage policies on the strength of a post from the HHS Secretary.

Kennedy is well recognised as a vaccine sceptic but pledged to "do nothing…that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking vaccines" at two Senate confirmation hearings before taking on the role.